Redefining Retirement: How Will Boomers Fare?

Brigitte Madrian, Olivia S. Mitchell, and Beth J. Soldo

Abstract

As the leading edge of the “Baby Boom” generation in the United States reaches sixty years of age, members of this unusually large cohort born between 1946 and 1966 are poised to redefine retirement — just as they have restructured educational, housing, and labor markets previously. Looking ahead, their numbers and energy are sure to have a major impact on national pensions, healthcare, and social safety nets. This book notes that “Boomers” will be better off than their predecessors in many ways, having benefited from the long run-up in housing prices, dramatic improvements in healthcare, and ... More

As the leading edge of the “Baby Boom” generation in the United States reaches sixty years of age, members of this unusually large cohort born between 1946 and 1966 are poised to redefine retirement — just as they have restructured educational, housing, and labor markets previously. Looking ahead, their numbers and energy are sure to have a major impact on national pensions, healthcare, and social safety nets. This book notes that “Boomers” will be better off than their predecessors in many ways, having benefited from the long run-up in housing prices, dramatic improvements in healthcare, and the expanding economy. On the other hand, the generation's sheer size will surely squeeze resources and require new approaches to retirement risk management. On average, the Boomers are in better financial and physical health than prior cohorts, and they can be anticipated to fare better than current retirees in absolute terms. Yet the distribution of retiree income and wealth will be less equal than in earlier years, and in relative terms, many Boomers will be less well off than their forebears. The chapters in this book use many invaluable models and datasets, including the incomparable Health and Retirement Study (HRS) which affords unique insights into the status of mature adults surveyed at the same age and hence same point in their life cycles, but at three different time periods. Chapter contributors offer new evidence about prospects for health and income during retirement, as well as pensions and housing equity, health, portfolio allocation, and financial literacy.

Bibliographic Information

Authors

Affiliations are at time of print publication.

Brigitte Madrian, editorProfessor of Public Policy and Corporate Management in the Aetna Chair at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Author Webpage

Olivia S. Mitchell, editorInternational Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor of Insurance and Risk Management, the Executive Director of the Pension Research Council, and the Director of the Boettner Center on Pensions and Retirement Research at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
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Annamaria Lusardi and Jason Beeler

Julia L. Coronado, Dean Maki, and Ben Weitzer

End Matter

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